Just took the second Kaplan test...

I dont see any trend. Its absolutely normal. I would not worry about scores at all. Please dont make the mistake of judging your prep by your practise test scores. practise tests scores are no way representative.

I never scored higher than 590 on kaplan and on the real gmat, i ended up with 710.

Praetorian

Thanks for the encouragement guys. All I have done so far are the Kaplan tests Chantal (on the CD not online, how do you get access to those?). Today I will be doing my first Princeton Review test, hopefully that goes well. I was curious though, Paul and/or Praetorian, in your preparation, when you guys took the pratice tests did you always do the AWA in the beginning or did you just skip to the Quant and verbal?

I had an unorthodox way of preparing by skipping AWA because I was fairly comfortable with it by following the template models provided by OG and PR. I ended up with 5.5 in AWA: Just stick to templates and you will do good. The bottom line is that I would recommend you to work on AWA if you are not comfortable with your writing skills. This will also build your stamina and allow you to put maximum stress on you so as to mimic actual testing conditions. Many people are just drained after the math section because of the AWA and Quant. Unless you are an english major or native, do not skip this part.

I am a native speaker but I find that AWA is hard for me only in that it is hard for me to come up with examples for my arguments and I find it really depends on the day..Some days thinking of examples to strengthen/weaken arguments is easy versus other days where I am struggling to even understand the argument. I generally find that true about the practice tests as a whole.


Which brings me to another point, does anyone find that they are consistently inconsistent with their scores? I'm finding that some tests my quant is much higher than my verbal, others my verbal is much higher? Because of this I'm finding it difficult to figure out what it is I need to focus on with regard to my studies.

If you are alluding to Kaplan scores for consistence, you may find none other than those scores are generally low. I know many 700+ scorers(read the "end of an era" sticky) who had scores which varied from the 500's to 700 on Kaplan CATs. Even my PR scores varied from 650 to 720 in the 2005 versions. I think PP and Paper tests are the most accurate gauge: My Paper tests(9 of them) varied from 680 to 780 so although there is a large variation, it gave me the confidence that I could score over 700.

As for AWA, I actually find the argument part easier than the issue part simply because of the many CR I had been through. By doing many CR questions, you will develop a critical thinking process that will tear the argument apart before even looking at the answer choices. Usually, the AWA argument is much easier than many CR questions because it leaves open room for you to tear it down. If you have trouble with AWA argument, then keep doing CR.

greenandwise,
you get access buy handing kaplan loads of cash. i didn't have time to do enough research on test prep alternatives so i just went to kaplan....but honestly i think this website is way better than kaplan's classes.
the CD tests are probably similar to their online tests.

btw...i know u didn't ask me. but i don't always do the AWA. i only do it when i think it's a question that "bores" me because it really tests my ability to squeeze an essay out.

another thing you can do is go to the final section of OG, read through all the AWA questions, pick the ones that you find challenging and practice drafting outlines. time yourself.